Human rights groups seek inquiry into Florida prison shower death

(Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday called for a federal investigation into the 2012 scalding death of a mentally ill prisoner in Florida for which no one has been held accountable.

“These revelations that are coming out are not about incompetence. They’re about guards killing people and public officials working feverishly to cover it up,” Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida said.

Darren Rainey died June 23, 2012 in a locked closet-sized shower while being blasted by hot water as punishment at the state’s Dade Correctional Institution in Miami, according to Simon’s letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

After two hours, Rainey was found dead with his skin separated from his body, the letter stated. The water temperature was later measured at 180 degrees (82 Celsius).

“After two years, no one has been held accountable, and indeed it appears that no one will be held accountable for the death of Darren Rainey, unless an investigation is conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice,” Simon wrote.

The ACLU was joined in the letter by the Florida Justice Institute, Amnesty International, the Florida Council of Churches, and the Florida Conference of NAACP Branches.

The spokesperson for Florida’s Department of Corrections (DOC) did not return a call for comment.

An inmate who was ordered to clean up the shower after Rainey’s body was removed described what he heard that night to the Miami Herald.